One Second Too Late
by RedHornedUnicorn
Summary: One extra second can leave a killer alive. One extra second can kill a hero. One extra second can cause the FAYZ to never end. It's the final battle in Perdido Beach and Caine's plan needs to be carried out on time, for even one second can change the entire story and the fate of those in the FAYZ. CHAPTER 2 IS UP
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone! RedHornedUnicorn here. This is my first fanfiction! Thank you everyone for taking your time to read it. Please, please, please review as I would LOVE to know what u think of this. Thanks! XD**

**NOTE: This first chapter is based in LIGHT.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Gone series**

* * *

'That is one tough monster Diana and I created.' Caine breathed.

Perdido Beach. Massacre. Dead, burnt bodies. Fire. Smoke. It was the final battle. Caine had just fired a missile with his telekinetic powers at the girl, or rather the monster, Gaia, and it had proved to be strong and determined. The rest of the missiles were off to the side of the road in their crates. Caine didn't think he had the chance to fire again. Edilio, the Honduran soldier, was there, unpacking a second missile.

'Nope,' Caine thought. 'Edilio isn't going to get the shot.'

Gaia finally saw Caine after the massive explosion the first missile made. Her stolen body was stripped of skin as a result of the impact. But she still lived.

'You.' She said.

'Yeah me,' Caine said. He looked at her disappointingly. 'Well I thought the missile was worth a try. Better than my backup plan.'

'Your backup plan?' Gaia asked.

Caine nodded. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, ready to start the backup plan. But for a moment hesitated, seeing Diana in his mind. A good final thought that was.

'I just need a few more seconds.' Caine thought, picturing Diana and only her.

* * *

Diana was wet and cold. She had finally jumped from the boat Caine had set her adrift in, and into the water. She then swam to the shore. Diana ran as far as she could go through the smoke that was from the bushfire raging in Stefano Ray (courtesy of Gaia). On and on she went towards Perdido Beach, which was filled with the sounds of gunfire, panic and death. It was then when she saw Sam, who was in the plaza, calling for Astrid. He noticed Diana too.

'Have you seen Astrid?' he asked frantically.

'No Sam. Have you seen-'

Their frantic conversation was interrupted by a loud swoosh made by the first missile that was fired. They were hopefully waiting to hear an explosion. The sound of the explosion wasn't very clear. Instead, terrified screams filled the smoky air. Sam took Diana's hand and they quickly ran toward the sound. As they wearily ran toward the sound of death, Sam let go of Diana's hand when he saw a figure with blonde hair up ahead.

'Astrid!' Sam called.

Diana blocked out every single word that was said by Sam after that. Her gaze was fixed on Caine who stood poised a hundred metres away with closed eyes.

* * *

Caine was done visualising Diana. It was time.

'NOW LITTLE PETE NOW!' he yelled. 'WHEREVER YOU ARE AND WHATEVER YOU ARE, LET'S-'

'No Caine, NO!' He heard a voice yell. Caine's instincts told him to stop, to search for the source of that desperate cry that sounded a lot like Diana. But he knew he had to do this.

Diana heard Caine stop yelling. For a moment she held onto a flicker of hope. But when Caine started to yell again, she knew he wasn't going to stop. He was the ambitious type. Diana had a sudden overwhelming urge that caused her to run towards Caine though she knew there was a chance that she could get killed. She sprinted as fast as she could while yelling.

'CAINE NO!'

* * *

Everything seemed like slow motion then. Caine took a few seconds to recollect himself after hearing the desperate plea. He started to yell to Pete again but not after Gaia released a blast of green light from her hands that was about forty metres away. He glanced quickly to the side while yelling to Pete unaware of the murderous beams. But that was when his eyes locked with a yelling Diana. The sudden sight of seeing the girl he loved made him stop. Half his mind was screaming at him to keep calling out to Pete. But the other half told him to stop and wonder why Diana was running towards him. He chose to listen to the second instinct.

'What is she doing?' he thought.

Another precious second wasted.

* * *

Diana saw the light before Caine did. She ran towards the mesmerised Caine, whose eyes was fixed on her, and pushed him. She saw the confused look on her boyfriend's face and that was the last thing she saw before she was hit with a blinding beam of green light…

* * *

Edilio saw this whole scene fold out. When he saw Diana get hit with the killing beams by Gaia, he was overwhelmed with so much anger and rage. It reminded him a lot of Roger's murder.

'No, this time you will not get away with this.' He said furiously.

Though Edilio was strictly told by Caine not to intervene, he aimed his gun like he had practiced many times. His fingers trembled as he pulled the trigger.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

He saw the monster fall to the ground while a pool of blood was quickly forming on the ground. He finally did it.

Edilio Escobar had killed Gaia.

With that exciting thought he ran towards Diana and Caine.

* * *

The beams of light immediately stopped as soon as he heard gunfire. But Caine couldn't care less who had managed to shoot at Gaia. He was staring down at Diana who had a large hole in the middle of her chest. At first he couldn't transfer what was happening. But reality soon settled into his mind.

'Diana, no!' he sobbed. He sank to his knees and held the lifeless Diana in his arms. 'NO!'

Edilio was running towards him followed by Sam and Astrid.

'Oh my-' Edilio started.

Caine buried his face in Diana's hair. He couldn't take it anymore. He started crying hysterically.

'Someone,' he sobbed. 'Get Lana.'

But it was obvious to him that Diana was done for and Lana couldn't raise the dead.

Sam and Astrid finally caught up with Edilio and stood next to him. They immediately saw the dead Diana. After a few tragic moments, Edilio turned to Sam and Astrid and spoke.

'I did it. I killed her.'

Astrid gave a confused look. 'What do you mean?'

'I shot her. Somewhere around the chest and face.'

'B…but… the barrier is still down.' Astrid stammered.

Edilio alarmingly turned and looked at the transparent dome. It was still there. Kids would be streaming out of this hell if it hadn't. Instead they were either running away petrified or still communicating with their loved ones desperately from the outside. He then glanced down to where he had shot Gaia.

She was gone.

The only trace of her was a pool of blood and a bloody trail that led towards the raging fire that now burnt the edges of Perdido Beach.

'No,' Edilio managed to whisper.

They had a chance, but they were seconds too late.

Gaia was gone.

Diana was dead.

And the fire was going to kill them all.

* * *

**Thanks again everyone! Please review as i really want to know what everyone thinks of this. The more reviews there are the faster the next chapter will be updated ;).**

**By the way, I'm thinking to make this story a collection of one shots based on instances where one second (or a few seconds) can ruin everything. But should I continue from this chapter?**

**What do you think? Thx XD**


	2. Chapter 2

One Second Too Late: Chapter 2

**Thank you to all who reviewed! It means a lot. Your ideas and encouragement finally helped me decide what to do…**

… **I'm going to continue with this story! **

**I was actually able to come up with a plot for this fanfiction despite schoolwork. So, without further ado, here's the second chapter! And please remember to review!**

* * *

The voice was calling and he was ready. Ready to take over the body. Ready to finish the game between the Gaiaphage. But suddenly it stopped calling. Pete waited but all he got in response was silence. The voice never called again. He was overwhelmed with confusion not knowing what to do. Back in his old vulnerable body, Pete had been following instructions all his life. It told him what to do, when to do it and what not to do. And now here he was waiting for the voice, his only instruction. It never came.

Pete could feel himself fading out of existence. He had to do something quickly before time ran out. He had already failed miserably trying to fix things; Take Taylor for example. Pete knew he had to do something, just one last time before permanently fading away. But he wasn't sure what to do...

* * *

Caine's eyes were fixed on the lifeless Diana. He was cradling her head in his arms and staring lifelessly at her while tears ran down his cheeks. It had only been a couple minutes since Diana was killed, but to Caine it felt like eternity.

Sam, Astrid and Edilio, who were there at the time Diana got killed, were frantically discussing what to do a few metres away from the distraught Caine.

'I can't believe Gaia's gone,' Sam said. He was actually angry inside, slightly wanting to let it out on Edilio. But Sam knew better and it wasn't his fault.

'Look, our biggest concern is the fire,' Astrid explained. 'My throat feels too dry and my eyes are stinging. How do you think we'd feel in the next five minutes when the fire is closer?'

'We wouldn't feel anything, we'd be dead.' Edilio answered. Guilt and failure was drilling into his mind. He had a chance to kill Gaia but he didn't finish her off. Edilio felt as if he had to make things right. His motivation was quickly building. 'Look, in around five minutes we're all going to die of the smoke or the flames. We need to act quickly. There are innocent kids out here in Perdido Beach. We have to save them.'

'He's right.' Sam said. 'We need to put this fire out. We need a plan.'

'Our only option is to use the ocean to put the fire out.' said Edilio. 'But the three of us can't just do it alone. We have to get everyone to help.'

'Agreed. We need to calm everyone down and pretend that Gaia is dead. Not everyone knows that she's the key to the end of the FAYZ so they won't really know that we're lying.' Astrid added.

'Ok, let's do this.' said Sam.

'What's the point?'

Surprisingly it was Caine who said that, his gaze still fixed on Diana. 'If the fire doesn't get us, Gaia will.'

'We still need to save them.' Edilio poorly reasoned.

'Whatever,' he said. Caine stood up, carrying Diana in his arms without his telekinesis. He walked away towards the beach.

'Wait, Caine, we need your help.' Sam called. Caine walked on anyway ignoring Sam's desperate plea.

'Just let him go,' Edilio said. 'We can still do this. Astrid, find Dekka. She'll be very useful. Last I checked she was in the church. Also try to get the littles in Clifftop. Lana can watch over them. Sam, try to gather the people in the barrier, calm them down and get them to help put out the fire. Then go to town and try to get the injured to Clifftop. Get all who listen to meet me at the marina. I'll go grab Quinn and my people. Let's move!'

And with that command, Astrid, Sam and Edilio all moved in different directions following their orders.

* * *

Astrid was having trouble breathing while running towards the church, which was just to her left. On her way she saw a group of 10yr old girls crying while running up to her.

'Astrid what do we do?' one of them asked.

'Get all the littles you can find and get them to Clifftop,' she said. 'Don't worry, the monster is dead.' Astrid added that last part with a fake smile. She made her way up the rubble-filled steps of the church and almost crashed into a person stumbling their way out.

'Dekka!' Astrid yelled with joy before hugging her. She scanned Dekka realising that she had a bad bruise on her head. 'Are you okay?'

Dekka completely ignored the question.

'Where's Gaia? Is she dead? Is the FAYZ down? What's happening?' she frantically asked.

'Um… not really. She's escaped again but we need your powers to put the fire out using the ocean.'

'Wait, she's not dead?!' Dekka exclaimed.

'Look, Edilio's severely wounded her. She won't be up and around soon but please come to the marina. We need your help to put the fire out.'

Dekka gave up on the subject of Gaia and sighed deeply.

'Ok, I'll be right there.'

* * *

Sam sprinted towards the transparent barrier. All he saw were the worried faces of the adults from outside. Not to mention the many dead bodies they were staring at. He also noticed the ground was full of tiny pebbles and the occasional huge chunk of rock. Sam soon realised that this had been Orc's body. He breathed in smoky air sharply.

'Another hero lost.' He thought.

One of the adults from the outside noticed Sam's presence and quickly wrote a sign that said: _What's happening? _Ignoring the sign, Sam quickly searched the area before seeing a large group of about 50 people fleeing to Clifftop. Sam ran towards them noticing his breathing was becoming worse.

'This fire's getting worse. We need to hurry.' He thought.

At last Sam had reached the group. The terrified kids all turned to him hoping for some good news while pelting him with questions and scared remarks.

'I can't find my brother!'

'My arm hurts so bad!'

'What do we do now Sam?'

'Did you kill that the monster?'

'EVERYONE SHUT UP!' Sam yelled trying to get their attention. This managed to work. 'Yes, the monster is dead. But the fire isn't and we can only put it out with all of your help. Please guys, come to the marina now.'

'I don't want to! I'm too scared.' a 7yr old girl cried out.

'I know you're all scared and I am too. But it will be worse if you just let the fire rage on. If we all help a little-'

'Do it yourself, I'm already hurt!' someone in the crowd yelled. This became the cue for the crowd to start yelling at Sam.

Sam was becoming frustrated with every second. He tried to reason with them but their voices drowned him out. He thought of every reasonable explanation to help put out the fire.

'So you won't die? So others can live as well?' he thought. 'No, no, no… I already tried that.'

The answer eventually hit him. Everyone in the FAYZ worked for Albert. And Albert fed everyone.

'Those who help will get double pay!' Sam managed to yell loudly despite the oncoming smoke choking him.

The crowd at last became silent.

'Those who help will get double pay. If you're hurt, you don't have to help. If you aren't and don't help, you are going to lose your job. Run down to the marina immediately if you're helping.' Sam said. He walked off without looking behind, quite confident that some would follow.

'Albert's probably going to kill me though,' he thought.

Sam heard reluctant sighs from the crowd but also heard some footsteps coming after him. He stole a glance behind him and saw about 35 people run off towards the marina. But he still wasn't sure if that was enough to put out the fire.

* * *

Edilio had already gathered his soldiers after Astrid and Sam left. He could only find six of his people. The rest were dead. He was running toward the marina now with his soldiers at his side. Once he was there, Edilio saw Quinn's fishing crew hiding out in boats that were a hundred metres away in the ocean. He told his soldiers to find any sort of vessel they could find in the marina or boats before running up to the shore trying to get the crew's signal. Just then Quinn came along all covered in ashes and soot.

'Dude your alive!' Quinn exclaimed

'Thank goodness you're alive too,' Edilio said relieved.

'I just took a look at the fire and it's now burning the edges of Perdido Beach. We need a bucket brigade pronto.'

'You think I don't know that? I need all the help I can get and so far I'm not getting much progress with your crew out there.'

'Leave that to me, brah.'

Quinn brought his fingers up to his mouth and blew a long loud whistle. Several heads from the boats turned to him. Quinn beckoned them back to shore with his hands before the boats started to row towards the beach.

'Edilio!'

Both Quinn and Edilio turned to see a bruised Dekka limping towards them.

'You're here!' Edilio exclaimed relieved. 'You okay?'

'Yeah, fine.' She answered.

'Good, cos' we're going to need you. Dekka, use your powers to lift the water from the ocean and dump them in whatever buckets we find. If you can manage it, also try to put out the nearest fire.' instructed Edilio.

'I'll do my best,' Dekka answered.

And off the determined girl went towards the water activating her powers while Edilio was truthfully telling Quinn what had happened to Gaia (he deserved to know).

On the shore, water rose from the ocean and floated lifelessly in the air as gravity was cancelled. Dekka let the water swirl around in mid-air until Edilio's soldiers arrived with about a dozen big buckets. She then moved the gravity-cancelled field with the seawater above the buckets before deactivating her powers. This caused the water to fall and fill each of the buckets to the brim.

'Try to put out the nearest fire with these buckets,' Edilio addressed his soldiers. 'If you see anyone that is able to help, get them to meet me in the marina. Now go!'

The six soldiers got three of the buckets before running off towards town. Just then, Quinn's fishing crew rowed onto the shore.

'Quinn, we heard the call. What do we do?' one of them asked.

'Don't worry everyone, Gaia the monster is now dead,' Edilio lied. 'But we need each of you to help put out this blazing fire.'

There were a few murmurs of negativity.

'Or you'll be fired.' Quinn added.

That seemed to convince everyone.

'Good. Charlie, Stella, get all the buckets we have and pile them up for Dekka to fill. The rest of you, take a bucket between two and put out the nearest fires.' Instructed Quinn.

'Let's move!' Edilio shouted.

And with that cue, everyone started to do their jobs. Quinn was gathering buckets and other vessels, Edilio was ordering everyone while keeping an eye out for the nearest fires and Gaia, and Dekka was filling the buckets up with water and occasionally disappearing to put out the nearest fires.

Out of the corner of his eye, Edilio saw a large crowd of people running towards him.

'Good, we've got more helpers.' He thought.

'Everyone, take a bucket between two and go put out the nearest fires.' He addressed the crowd. 'If you see anyone that is unharmed, tell them to come meet me at the marina to help. If you see any littles, tell them to go to Clifftop.'

'We're getting paid double, right? Cos that's what Sam said.' Someone asked.

Edilio sighed.

'Stuff you, Sam.' He muttered.

* * *

The ocean lay before his eyes as Caine kneeled down on the sand with Diana in his arms. He didn't want to let her go. He loved Diana. She was the only one who truly cared and understood him. And now she was gone… forever.

Caine saw an empty rowboat drift across the water aimlessly out of the corner of his eyes. He looked up and realised that it was the boat that he had set Diana adrift in. Using his powers, he brought the boat towards him.

'I'm not burying you someplace where you can be burned,' he thought.

The boat had finally reached the shore. With all his might, Caine stood up whilst holding Diana, and walked towards the boat. He gently lay her down in it, trying to avoid looking at the gaping hole in her chest. Caine kissed her one last time.

'I'll never forget you,' he whispered. 'I love you.'

He closed his eyes trying to let go of Diana. Then with all his might, he physically pushed the boat out into the calm ocean but accidentally fell into the water while doing so.

'This would normally be when Diana would make fun of me,' Caine thought trying to fight off another wave of sadness.

He rose from the water wet and soggy on his hands and knees. Caine saw the boat drift off but it hadn't moved very far. He raised his hands up, ready to use his powers to push the boat away…

* * *

Pete only had a few seconds before he completely died off. He gave up on the voice and was now desperately trying to figure out how to help for the final time. Suddenly he felt himself being pulled away from existence. He looked around frantically but all he saw a bunch of fragile spirals he had once tried to play with. Around one of the spirals there were blue marble-shaped balls hovering around. Pete gently pushed one of the marbles into the spiral before fading out forever, hoping that he had not ruined everything.

And that was the last thing he ever saw.

* * *

Caine raised his hands ready to push the boat with his telekinesis. But suddenly water was flying everywhere! He looked around frantically trying to see where the water had come from and who was doing it. There was no one around him. Caine shook his head and turned back to the boat. Again he raised his hands and tried to push the boat using his powers. Instead, water was flying everywhere. Caine looked up and stared at his hands that were still raised. And that was when he saw it.

From his hands, a large water ball was forming before exploding everywhere causing water to fly off in different directions. Caine stood staring, paralyzed with shock.

'Oh my g-'

* * *

From a distance, a figure stood watching all that had happened to Caine before disappearing.

* * *

**So that's that! I don't think I wrote the Caine and Diana moments well. To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of them. Please review cos the more reviews I get, the faster the next chapter will be uploaded. :)**

**Oh, and who is the creepy figure stalking Caine?**

**And what do you think happened to him? **

**Thanks again! And if you haven't already, please check out my other fanfiction 'Reliving'. I'll probably upload chapter 2 for that fanfic next. XD**


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